Hydrops fetalis: report of 3 cases

Ultrasound is a well recognized imaging modality for prenatal diagnosis of fetal congenital anomalies. Reported cases are hydrops fetalis diagnosed during ultrasonic evaluation of fetal condition in the Center for Nuclear Medicine and ultrasound (CNMU), Mymensingh. Only fetal ascites was detected in one case of 26 +/- 2 wks of gestation, fetal ascites with hydramnios and thick placenta was seen in another case of 28 +/- 2 wks of gestation. In third case, there was fetal ascites, scalp edema, hydrothorax and myelomeningocele with oligohydramnios at 20 +/- 2 wks of gestation; sonographic diagnosis was hydrops fetalis with myelomeningocele. Follow up was advised in first two cases and third case was terminated electively. To decrease the mortality rate and to improve the outcome of hydrops fetalis cases appropriate prenatal investigations and therapy is needed. Recent advances in prenatal ultrasound have made possible the early detection of hydrops fetalis which is helpful for proper management in time.     

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of soft tissue tumours (STT)

Objectives: The cytological findings of 50 ST Ts were evaluated aiming to determine the role of FNA in diagnosis of STTs Methods: Fifty patients with soft tissue tumours underwent FNA in the preoperative investigation during a one year period. The smears were stained with Papanicolaou and May-Graunvald Giemsa stains. Results: Forty-four cases were reported as benign, whereas 2 were malignant. Four cases revealed insufficient material. The malignant STTs were small round cell tumour and malignant spindle cell tumour. Cytological and histological correlation could be achieved in 40 cases. The overall sensitivity and specificity were 25% and 100% respectively with overall accuracy of 80%. Conclusion: A reliable diagnosis of STTs can be made with FNA when supported by other clinical and other diagnostic data. Key words: FNA, soft tissue tumours.     

Observed hand cleanliness and other measures of handwashing behavior in rural Bangladesh

Background  

We analyzed data from the baseline assessment of a large intervention project to describe typical handwashing practices in rural Bangladesh, and compare measures of hand cleanliness with household characteristics.     

Effect of experimental anterior temporalis muscle pain on jaw movements

To test the hypotheses that experimental noxious stimulation of the anterior temporalis muscle results in significant decreases in jaw movement amplitude and velocity, and there are significant correlations between scores of mood or pain‐related cognitions and amplitude and velocity. The jaw movements of 14 asymptomatic participants were recorded during standardised open/close jaw movements and free and standardised chewing tasks. Tonic infusion of hypertonic saline into the right anterior temporalis muscle maintained pain intensity between 40 and 60 mm on a 100‐mm visual analogue scale. Tasks were performed in a single session in the following sequence: baseline condition, test 1 condition (during hypertonic or isotonic saline infusion), test 2 condition (during saline infusion) (10‐min rest between conditions). Participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS‐21) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Amplitude and velocity of opening and closing were compared between conditions with a repeated‐measures analysis of variance (anova ), and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient explored correlations; statistical significance: P < 0·05. For any of the three tasks, there were no significant differences in kinematic variables between any condition and no significant correlations between DASS‐21 or PCS scores and kinematic variables during hypertonic saline infusion. The absence of a significant reduction in velocity or amplitude of open/close or chewing jaw movements during experimental temporalis muscle pain is not consistent with the Pain Adaptation Model proposing decreases in kinematic measures in pain. The lack of significant correlations between psychological variables and measures of jaw movement may reflect the low scores reported by our study sample.     

In vivo study on the roles of cytochrome P450 enzymes for metabolism of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy) in rats

Some major metabolic pathways of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) have been shown to be dependent on cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes by in vitro studies. The aim of this study was to clarify the roles of these CYP enzymes for in vivo metabolism of MDMA with respect to two pathways using rats: N-demethylation of MDMA to 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and O-demethylenation of MDMA to 3,4-dihydroxymethamphetamine (HHMA)followed by O-methylation to 4-hydroxy-3-methoxymethamphetamine (HMMA). Rats were pretreated with phenobarbital (PB, 80 mg/kg i.p.) or β-naphthoflavone (BNF, 80 mg/kg i.p.) once a day for 3 days before administration of MDMA (10 mg/kg i.p.). Metabolic changes were monitored by measuring the urinary excretion of MDMA and its metabolites. Twenty-four hours after MDMA administration, MDA in rat urine was significantly decreased by 43% and 70%, and HMMA was significantly increased by 33% and 64% in urine samples from PB-pretreated and BNF-pretreated rats, respectively, as compared with the control values. Testosterone 6β-hydroxylase (CYP3A), pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase (CYP2B1), ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (CYP1A1), and methoxyresorufin O-demethylase (CYP1A2) activities were increased 2–6 fold in both PB-pretreated and BNF-pretreated rat liver microsomes sampled at 24 h after MDMA administration as compared with the control values. These results suggest that PB-induced and BNF-induced CYP enzymes have inhibitory effects on N-demethylation of MDMA to MDA in vivo in rats. If HHMA is the precursor of HMMA in rats, there is a possibility that the O-demethylenation of MDMA to HHMA is increased by the induced CYP enzymes. The decreased urinary concentration of MDMA and very low percent recoveries of MDA, HMMA, and (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)acetone (HMPA) in the inducer-pretreated groups suggest that other metabolic pathways of MDMA exist and are activated under the present experimental conditions.     

Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome and secondary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in early stage colorectal cancer

Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) is a well-described oncological emergency that is usually associated with hematological malignan-cies complicated by treatment. It is typically related to a high tumor burden, rapidly growing and chemosensitive malignancies.     

Effects of Nicotine on Bone Mass, Turnover, and Strength in Adult Female Rats

This study investigated the effects of nicotine, the chemical responsible for tobacco addiction, on bone and on serum mineral and calcitropic hormone levels in adult, female rats to help resolve a current controversy regarding the impact of nicotine on bone health. Seven-month-old rats received either saline (n = 12), low-dose nicotine (4.5 mg/kg/day, n = 2), or high-dose nicotine (6.0 mg/kg/day, n = 12) administered subcutaneously via osmotic minipumps for 3 months. Blood, femora, tibiae, and lumbar vertebrae (3-5) were collected at necropsy for determination of serum mineral and hormonal concentrations, bone density (femora and vertebrae), bone turnover (tibiae), and bone strength (femora). The presence of nicotine in serum (111 +/- 7 and 137 +/- 10 ng/ml for the low- and high-dose nicotine groups, respectively) confirmed successful delivery of the drug via osmotic minipumps. Nicotine-induced treatment differences were not detected in serum calcium, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. However, serum phosphorus and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were higher in rats treated with high-dose nicotine, and serum calcitonin was lower in rats treated with both high- and low-dose nicotine than in control rats. Nicotine treatment had no effect on tibial cancellous or cortical bone turnover or femoral bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD). Femoral ultimate load and vertebral BMC were lower in rats treated with high-dose nicotine than in control rats. We conclude that nicotine at serum concentrations 2.5-fold greater than the average in smokers has limited detrimental effects on bone in normal, healthy female rats.